Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Ways they can improve before the playoffs
Maintain focus, put teams away in the 3rd quarter.
For anyone who has watched the Los Angeles Lakers this year, there has not been much for fans of the purple and gold to complain about. We are winning games, we are doing it in style and we are going back to the playoffs. Life is good.
However, while focusing on the good things the Lakers do is fantastic, it is not always helpful. Pointing out areas for improvement, critiquing not criticizing is even more important to the development of a championship-caliber team.
Fixing one aspect of a team’s game could be the difference between the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals or the NBA Finals and the Larry O’Brien trophy.
For those who have viewed the purple and gold this season, one of the areas in which the Los Angeles Lakers have let themselves down is their concentration and focus in the 3rd quarter.
Multiple times this season the Lakers have allowed large leads to dwindling to nothing during the 3rd quarter, forcing the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis to play extended minutes in order to see out the game.
That time can be better used to play the end of bench players who can get reps and who will fight hard because they want to make an impact in the minutes they are given.
Having the starters play fewer minutes in the 2nd half of the season allows for them to be healthier for the impending playoff run.
Having a fully rested, focus and healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis gives the Lakers an instant advantage over the vast majority of teams in the NBA.
The Clippers have relied heavily upon load management in order to ensure that the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are fit and healthy for the playoffs. Kawhi did this previously with the reigning NBA champions Toronto Raptors.
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If the Lakers can still play LeBron and AD on a nightly basis but just rest them when the game is out of reach then this is the best of both worlds for both LeBron and AD and the Lakers organization as a whole.